Fashion brand Zara said today it regretted the “misunderstanding” over an ad campaign where they depicted statues wrapped in white, triggering calls for a boycott by some pro-Palestinian activists, and removed the images.

People left tens of thousands of complaints about the campaign on Zara’s Instagram handle, asserting that the images resembled photos of bodies in white clothes in Gaza. “#BoycottZara” trended on social media platform X (previously Twitter).

Zara confirmed that the campaign, which also featured mannequins with missing legs and arms, had been plannrd in July and photographed in September of this year, even before the conflict occured in October, and was meant to show sculptures that were unfinished in a studio. “Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created,” Zara said in an Instagram post.

The images were used “with the sole purpose of showcasing craftmade garments in an artistic context”, it added. “Zara regrets that misunderstanding and we reaffirm our deep respect towards everyone,” Zara said.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/world/news/zara-regrets-misunderstanding-over-photoshoot-after-gaza-boycott-calls-3492596